Wizard, Karl, my experience with Waterstones is that they don't mind if you take a book off the shelves to browse while having a coffee - although I'm sure they'd rather you didn't leave any jammy fingerprints, of course.

Talk of those new flats opposite the Bay station reminds me that the flats on Clarence Road are almost complete and they really don't compliment the building next door (sorry, can't for the life of me remember what it is called, it's early)

There is an application for 75 affordable units (mostly apartments but about 25 townhouses) for the land next to the Hamadryad Hospital in the docks. The designs are a bit meh, the townhouses look okay but the apartment block is bog standard. I'm not sure there has been any sort of design process. Close your eyes, think of a box, insert some windows, then add a primary colour here and there. Bingo, you've just designed an apartment block. Probably the easiest money the architects will make all year.

Many moons ago this site was going to house an American style retirement home, aimed at very affluent people who wanted to live by the sea. As suspected that never got off the ground.

Which leads me neatly onto other general development news. There is a proposal to demolish the Orchards in Llanishen and build a McCarthy Stone retirement home. The Orchards is the blue glass building next to Llanishen leisure centre. I make that at least four of these retirement homes in the Llanishen village area.

It also means Llanishen is becoming ever more residential. It is of course home to the Tax Office but there are also a very large number of offices and industrial units for a north Cardiff suburb. In fact I can't think of any other suburbs in Cardiff with that amount of non-residential use. However since the ROF site was developed for residential a few years ago there have been a number of applications for further residential development on the industrial estate with the loss of a number of units already. I wonder if eventually the tax office will move and if so where?

Karl wrote:I wonder if eventually the tax office will move and if so where?

Definitely heard a rumour many moons ago that the Tax Office were looking for new premises - I believe the original plan was Cardiff Gate, there were even traffic studies undertaken but I don't know if that came to anything...

That would have a huge effect on the area in terms of traffic, effect on local businesses etc.

I've come to like the tax office building and wonder if it could - assuming HMRC move - be converted into residential. It would need quite a refurb on the outside but I think it would actually be a fairly attractive building to live in. The car park area and ancillary buildings could also be developed with undercroft parking incorporated.

Economic activity is become concentrated in city centres and well-located industrial/office parks next to major roads (and preferably near public transport too). This is even happening in London, where Croydon and Hammersmith are both suffering from declining office occupancy and employment - but Central London is booming.

So I think we'll see further ind/office to resi conversion in Llanishen.

I think its a shame in a way - formerly mixed-use suburbs are becoming more like dormitories. Traffic/Commuter flows become even more uni-modal, putting further pressure on existing capacity (but making increased public transport provision more economical). But the economic rationale for this seems to be clear - easier access to staff, customers, and suppliers.

HEFCW are current occupiers (I wonder where they will be going), but you right there has been a to let sign there for years.

It really is quite remarkable that Ty Glas Road/Avenue is able to cope with the industrial estate, the tax office, the many offices, the retail park, the leisure centre, Coed Glas school, Morrisons, Homebase, the ordinary residential traffic plus those using as the main route to get from one side of Llanishen to the other. When I think about it I wonder what the hell I'm doing cycling down it every morning.